Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

JAMES CHRISTIAN READ wrote:

> What do we make of  ויהי ערב ויהי בקר   ?
> Many translations seem to go with 'was' translation. But is the sense more of 
> evening and morning coming to pass or happening rather than out of context 
> declaration of state?
> James C. ReadUK
>  

HH: I have always read the "was" in this verse as expressing the passing 
of time or happening of an event. This is an acceptable use of the 
English word. Somebody describing an evening at a friend's house might 
say, "We talked for an hour in the living room, then there was dinner. 
Later we watched T.V." Saying "there was dinner" means that dinner 
happened or the time of dinner passed.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard